The Jack Rubies

Visions In The Bowling Alley 

Big Stir Records

The second album from this long running London band continues their comeback, a worthy followup to 2023’s Clocks Are Out Of Time.

While there is still the same sense of doom running through the songs, you never get the sense that things are hopeless. It’s more like catastrophes will happen if something isn't done to stop them, presented in the most grumpy way possible. 

Some of this doom is political, like “Greedy” and “Are We Being Recorded?” and some is about relationships, like “Be Good Or Be Gone,” or “Boat Rocker.”

“Boat Rocker” is also the album's cheeriest song, and that cheer shows that things aren’t hopeless to them. You probably will feel the same if you pick this one up, and I absolutely recommend that you do, as this is the first great album of the year. If you have liked this band’s new run, or their original heyday in the late 80s and early 90s, check this out. Either way you won’t go wrong.  

Andrea Weiss